POMACCI — Fixing E-Scooter Chaos Through Micro-jobs

Designing a mobile app to connect food enthusiasts through shared dining experiences, from concept to prototype.

Role

UX/UI Designer

Industry

Mobility

Duration

3 months

Project Overview

In 2024, I worked on PUMACCI, a project aimed at solving parking issues caused by the rapid rise of shared e-scooters in South Korea.
Poorly parked scooters blocked sidewalks, caused public inconvenience, and cost the government over 11 trillion KRW annually.
Recognizing the growing gig economy among Gen Z, we envisioned a relocation service that incentivized everyday users to reposition scooters properly.

Challenge

The major pain points included:

Poor scooter parking behavior leading to significant pedestrian inconvenience.
Lack of real-time solutions in existing e-scooter apps to manage parking.
Rising complaints and safety issues in dense urban areas.
Gen Z’s strong preference for flexible, short-term gig work was untapped.
Public dissatisfaction with scooter clutter was at 73%, based on survey data.

Project Overview

In 2024, I worked on PUMACCI, a project aimed at solving parking issues caused by the rapid rise of shared e-scooters in South Korea.
Poorly parked scooters blocked sidewalks, caused public inconvenience, and cost the government over 11 trillion KRW annually.
Recognizing the growing gig economy among Gen Z, we envisioned a relocation service that incentivized everyday users to reposition scooters properly.

Challenge

The major pain points included:

Poor scooter parking behavior leading to significant pedestrian inconvenience.
Lack of real-time solutions in existing e-scooter apps to manage parking.
Rising complaints and safety issues in dense urban areas.
Gen Z’s strong preference for flexible, short-term gig work was untapped.
Public dissatisfaction with scooter clutter was at 73%, based on survey data.

Process

I led and contributed to a structured research and design process:

Conducted surveys to understand user behavior and dissatisfaction levels with current scooter usage environments.
Investigated the side hustle and gig work trends among Gen Z users, focusing on what motivates participation (e.g., proximity, flexibility, and manageable hours).
Mapped user journeys for both scooter users and potential scooter movers.
Benchmarked best practices from existing reward apps and e-scooter rental services.
Designed wireframes to visualize user flows that incorporated real-time maps, reward systems, and simple relocation actions.

Solution

The final solution introduced:

A relocation system where users could find poorly parked scooters, reposition them correctly, and verify their task through a simple photo upload.
A gamified rewards system encouraging repeat participation.
Real-time scooter availability visualization with a focus on condition, battery life, and parking status.
A simple, accessible user flow optimized for quick gig completion.
Future scalability for adding community features like leaderboards and badges.

Results

The project successfully:

Created a functional prototype demonstrating the user relocation experience.
Showed that merging gig economy motivations with mobility service management could lower social costs.
Identified clear opportunities for retention through gamified and community-centered strategies.

My Role

Led contextual research on Gen Z gig economy behaviors.
Designed key UX flows for relocation, verification, and rewards.
Conducted competitor benchmarking and user journey mapping.
Developed interactive prototypes for usability validation.
Proposed system improvements based on real-world usage patterns.

Future Steps / Reflections

Plan to implement beacon-based automatic verification for scooter repositioning, reducing the need for manual photo uploads.
Aim to build in-app community engagement features, such as rankings and friend invites, to boost long-term user retention.
Learned that deeply understanding users’ economic and lifestyle needs leads to stronger service adoption in the gig economy space.

Results

The project successfully:

Created a functional prototype demonstrating the user relocation experience.
Showed that merging gig economy motivations with mobility service management could lower social costs.
Identified clear opportunities for retention through gamified and community-centered strategies.

My Role

Led contextual research on Gen Z gig economy behaviors.
Designed key UX flows for relocation, verification, and rewards.
Conducted competitor benchmarking and user journey mapping.
Developed interactive prototypes for usability validation.
Proposed system improvements based on real-world usage patterns.

Future Steps / Reflections

Plan to implement beacon-based automatic verification for scooter repositioning, reducing the need for manual photo uploads.
Aim to build in-app community engagement features, such as rankings and friend invites, to boost long-term user retention.
Learned that deeply understanding users’ economic and lifestyle needs leads to stronger service adoption in the gig economy space.

Other projects

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A project to improve VoC for users who were frustrated by the lack of out-of-stock information on the cafeteria menu.

Lift-it — Safer Weightlifting through Motion Tracking

Revolutionizing the educational ecosystem with a mobile app designed to enhance interactive learning and peer collaboration.

Leah Kim

Leah Kim

Leah Kim